10 Hard Left Working Class Bands (Past and Present) to Check Out

Huge thanks to DY Conspiracy for giving me the opportunity to go on a great length about some great bands…

“DIY Conspiracy is a web journal for underground music and culture.

The site launched in 2005, and since then, we have tirelessly strived to embody the creative and community-driven spirit of punk rock, with a strong emphasis on political and ethical values. It is run entirely by a community of international punks for the sake of our enthusiasm. We don’t serve annoying ads and overpromotional nonsense, and we’re not owned by any corporate scumbags.”

Randy Smith of Rebel Time Records presents a list of hard left working class bands raising fists and voices for a combative International Workers’ Day.

“Songs are funny things. They can slip across borders. Proliferate in prisons. Penetrate hard shells. I always believed that the right song at the right moment could change history.”

Pete Seeger

This is a list of bands, some old, some new, that I feel play the right songs: songs of protest and resistance. It’s a diverse mix of hard-left and left-radical punk rock, hardcore, Oi!, hip-hop, and revolutionary folk. It’s definitely not an exhaustive list—there are plenty of other bands that could have been included.

What ties these artists together is that they all walk the talk. They’re all hands-on, socially conscious, and politically engaged. And since they’ve all got something to say, I’ve let them, for the most part, speak for themselves. To quote Pete Seeger again, “The people are on the march and must have songs to sing.”

Towards a combative Mayday!

Afterboltxebike

Afterboltxebike

“Which side are you on? / That of the boss or that of the proletariat?”

—”¿De Qué Lado Estás?”, Afterboltxebike

Afterboltxebike (named after a song by Basque left-radical ska/punk band Kortatu) are a self-described anti-capitalist, anti-fascist, anti-racist, agit-prop punk band from Nuevo León, Mexico. They’ve got a couple of releases under their belts: the eight-song No Pasarán cassette and, most recently, the three-song Agitación Marxista seven-inch.

Of the band, singer/lyricist Diego Armando has noted that “we seek to give a clear political message to all the people who want to listen to us. (…) More than hoping for something is to do something, to have a presence in the places we can to spread left-wing anti-capitalist ideas.”

Musically, Afterboltxebike play a rough and ready mixture of punk, hardcore, and Oi!—”classic burly Mexican hardcore punk” with songs that “pop like a Molotov cocktail.”

As far as subject matter goes, it’s been noted that “the lyrics are all in Spanish and are what you would expect from an anti-authoritarian band, with subjects such as killing fascists, living in an exhausting working class society, and the importance of reading (read to study, read to learn, read to liberate!).”

One of the first songs I heard by the band was “¿De Qué Lado Estás?” or, “Which Side Are You On?” For Afterboltxebike, the answer (and the way/the path) is clear: you’re either with the bosses or with the oppressed, and this band is on the side of the workers/the proletariat/the exploited. Afterboltxebike knows that class struggle is the motor of history.

Of the song, Diego says: “‘¿De Qué Lado Estás?’ was the first song I wrote. What I was looking for was a kind of declaration of our principles so that those who listened to us would know our political ideas and there would be no doubt about what kind of band we are. It’s also an invitation to question our own participation within society. We believe that the worker continues to be the revolutionary subject capable of transforming capitalism into a superior society in which we can overcome the relationship between the exploited worker and the exploiting employer.”

Important to me is the fact that the band walks the talk, with Diego being involved in a variety of political initiatives and punk rock projects over the years, including Incendiario, his record label and fanzine. Currently, he is writing Days of Fury: A Historical Overview of the Nuevo León Punk Scene, 1988–2009, and he’s working to create the Colectivo de Trabajadores Comunistas (the Communist Workers Collective), “with the idea of creating a nucleus of militants to do the work of spreading communist ideas with the aim of creating a Communist Party.”

Brigada Flores Magon

Brigada Flores Magon

“Class war, class war / We will never give up / Dead or alive it doesn’t matter / Our fight is eternal”

—”Class War”, Brigada Flores Magon

Brigada Flores Magon is a self-described “French anti-fascist and anti-capitalist streetpunk/Oi! band from Paris formed in 1996.”

Musically, Brigada deals in “gritty, anthemic punk rock with a message.” Between 1997 and 2022, the band released five albums’ worth of, as I put it, “militant/combative, catchy-as-heck, sing-along, up-in-arms, anti-capitalist, anti-fascist streetpunk.”

Founding member Victor says of the band’s early days: “We were young politicized punks, close to the anarcho-punk movement. We spent our days listening to music. Punk, of course: Conflict, Subhumans, Crass, Spanish punk too—especially from the Basque Country—Latin American punk, and of course French (anarcho) punk like Bérurier Noir, Kochise or Les Cadavres. But we also listened to French and American hip-hop and politicized Latin American music like Quilapayún, José de Molina or Víctor Jara. It was the DIY ideal that pushed us to create the group: it was about not being a simple consumer but an actor in the local music scene. The idea was to have a group to spread anarchist ideals but also to talk about our daily lives, to make visible the struggles that seemed important to us.”

Without a doubt, a pioneering band that, importantly, pretty much jump-started the whole Redskin/RASH (Red and Anarchist Skinheads) movement in Europe. Says Victor: “In 1999, we created the RASH Paris section and its fanzine, Barricata. Thanks to the presence of Julien (RIP 1968–2024), the drummer, who was a member of the Red Warriors gang (Nazi Hunters), we were an openly redskin group at a time when very few Oi! groups declared themselves left-wing. That said, the objective remained the same: to disseminate our ideals, to create safe spaces for all (by keeping fascists away from our concerts), to create links with other scenes in Europe and everywhere else in the world.”

And, according to Victor: “Politics was an integral part of our lives. It was part of the project. The group was only one facet of our dissemination work, of our political work. We were all activists in the CNT (National Confederation of Labor, an anarchist union), and we participated actively in the university section as well as in the anti-fascist commission. We organized support concerts, debates, screenings of activist films and documentaries. We succeeded in creating a good network of musical groups and political groups in France and in certain European countries (Germany, Spain, Italy in particular). In a way, Brigada was the driving force behind all these activities—a tool at the service of our cause. And I think we succeeded in our challenge.”

Their most recent album, 2022’s Immortels, was a truly internationalist effort, with labels/political projects from Mexico, Brazil, USA, and Canada involved in its release. As one reviewer noted: “Immortels is a fantastic release that should be a part of every revolutionary’s playlist.”

I couldn’t agree more.

Carmen Colère

Carmen Colère

“Total war on the bourgeoisie / by all means, war, social war / social war against capital / general strike and social war”

—”Guerre Sociale”, Carmen Colère

Carmen Colère first came to my attention a couple of years ago via Facebook when singer Je sent along a video of the band. The video was for the song “Ulrike Meinhof.” Ulrike was one of the founders of the Red Army Faction, and the lyrics are from a letter she wrote while in prison. The song was amazing, and as someone who has long studied and written about the RAF, I was intrigued!

Based in Nancy, France, Carmen Colère are purveyors of what they call Boom Boom Punk, which I’d describe as a catchy and cacophonous mix of punk, electro, and jazz. Says Je, one of three vocalists: “Once, after a show in Nancy, a girl came and told us, ‘for real, what you’re playing is Boom Boom Punk more than electro punk!’ She was absolutely right, and now we say we make Political Boom Boom Punk.” In addition to the three singers, there’s also saxophone, guitar, bass, and drum machine!

The band has released a few EPs since 2017, and those have been gathered together on the 19-song Ferme ta Gueule album, released in 2022. Well recommended!

The band’s name comes from a collage seen on a wall in Marseille, France, that pictures a Spanish woman called Carmen C. during the Indignados / 15-M Movement of 2011–2012 (a series of protests, occupations, and demonstrations against Spanish austerity politics). Says Al: “Carmen Rage (Carmen Colère) sounded to us like a happy poem of destruction and resistance, exactly like our songs.”

I asked Carmen Colère what the main message of the band is, and this was their eloquent and inspirational response: “Carmen Colère, it’s more like an anti-message: anti-capitalism, anti-fascism, anti-racism, anti-sexism. These are our lyrics’ foundations. But Carmen Colère is also a monument to love, to self-management, of inclusion, of joy in the struggle. The destruction of capitalist society means also the hope of something else, of an anarchist society, which is conquering in brotherhood and sisterhood. We hope we give people a sort of class war joy, because joy is not only a part of post-capitalism—joy is here, now, in the class struggle.” Nicely put!!

And, in the here and now, band members are part of radical pan-leftist collectives and syndicates, especially anti-fascist groups.

Union Made

Union Made

“Our sweat—is their fuel / our hands—their tools / our fate—to take / our chains—to break”

—”The Great Divide”, Union Made

“Straight out of Montreal, this is revolutionary hardcore”—that’s how the intro to Union Made’s 2005 release Hard Grace begins, and that really sums it up succinctly. Or, as others put it: “old school Oi!-inspired tough hardcore with angry, lyrical righteousness with a left-wing, pro-working class tilt,” and, “thunderous hardcore with hard-hitting, intelligent, class-conscious lyrics that amazingly match the band’s sonic fury.”

Formed out of the ashes of two equally amazing (and well-worth checking out) bands—Street Troopers and Fate 2 Hate—the band released Hard Grace and then followed that up with Alchemists (both on Insurgence Records) a couple of years later.

Vocalist/lyricist Nic has said that “the band is strongly anti-capitalist and promotes collectivist values in every aspect of society. We promote a working class consciousness.” Asked what songs he’d recommend, he suggested “The Great Divide”: “It’s a solid class anthem I wrote after seeing a Jail For Sale in upstate New York with the promo ‘Amazing Business Opportunity’,” and “Some Watch the Trains,” off of Alchemists, which is an ode to his hero, Holocaust survivor Eva Olsson.

The band, and Nic in particular, were active in the left political scene in Montreal. Says Nic: “I was originally part of SHARP (Skinheads Against Racial Prejudice) in the ’90s. Our work with other organizations such as ARA (Anti-Racist Action) really made a dent in the fascist presence in the streets of Montreal and beyond. With idle hands, some of us created RASH Montreal to direct our energy. I was heavily involved in RASH during most of Union Made’s existence.”

And while the aforementioned bands are no longer around, members of Street Troopers and Union Made (including Nic) recently formed Over The Hill, a band which, according to a press release, “tackles the paradox of being old in a youth subculture, the trials and tribulations of adulthood and some classic punk topics, all in French and English with a few hardcore and street punk touches.” They’ve released an album, Older Not Wiser, on Une Vie Pour Rien Vinyles. Check out the song “Conformist Pawn”!

Urban Vietcong

Urban Vietcong

“We’ll charge together / we’ll attack the sky / we won’t miss the shot / we’ll sweep you away / with blood in our eyes”

—”Attacco”, Urban Vietcong

Urban Vietcong was born in October 2015 in Livorno, Italy, out of the ashes of another band called Trade Unions. They’ve released two records: 2016’s A Colpi di Machete and 2018’s Storie Tra Bottiglie e Ciminiere (the title song also has a great video).

I first came across the band when singer Bebe sent me a video of the song “Attacco,” off their first record. As I said at the time, it’s “a song which name-checks and acknowledges the struggles of the Black Panthers, the Viet Cong and the Palestinian resistance, a song that calls for unity, organization, prioritization and attack.” It’s a song that finds the band “always sitting on the wrong side, together with the exploited, behind a barricade.” Bebe said of the song: “In ‘Attacco’ we express our desire for a greater organization of the left movement, in order to, as Majakovskij said, ‘to attack the sky.’”

Left-radical punk/oi/core is kind of how I’d describe the band’s sound. Others have noted that the band’s songs are “full of rage against capitalist exploitation and fascism and about the struggle in the streets of a traditional working class town”—songs that are “full of energy, passion and rage as the self-described communists take on capitalism and fascism.”

Speaking to what the band is all about, Bebe says: “Music, as well as being fun, and a way to come together, is a means of communication and a way to convey our ideas. In Italy and also in other countries, capital with its means and methods (fascists, police and politicians) is increasingly depleting the less well-off classes. We are only a drop in the sea, but in our social centre and in our own little way we try to do something to combat this, such as defending historical memory (partisans), anti-fascism, the right to housing, and more.”

Urban Vietcong continues to “assault the sky,” most recently coming together this past month with other like-minded bands at the United We Stand anti-fascist fest in Paris, France.

Years of Lead

Years of Lead

“To end exploitation / Revolution / Against all oppression / Revolution / This is fucking class war”

—”Revolution”, Years of Lead

Years of Lead (the newest band on this list) quite appropriately had their first show this past October at Revolution Fest IX in their hometown of Montreal, Quebec, Canada. A yearly event, Revolution Fest bills itself as “three days of feminist, anti-capitalist and anti-fascist music.”

Named after the period in Italian history (late 1960s–late 1980s) marked by left-wing armed struggle (Red Brigades, Armed Proletarian Cells, Prima Linea, etc.) and extra-parliamentary opposition (Lotta Continua, Potere Operaio, Autonomia Operaia, etc.), the band released a DIY four-song demo in September 2024. It’s short, sharp, rising-up-angry hard-left hardcore.

They’ve also contributed a track to a benefit compilation for Riseup.net. Riseup.net “works to create revolution and a free society in the here and now by building alternative communication infrastructure designed to oppose and replace the dominant system.”

Former bass player Stakh says that the band “has influences from 1990s NYHC sounds and talks about the state of the world we live in and the tensions we have between a hope-filled revolutionary perspective and a nihilistic point of view.” Stakh is also a member of Union Thugs (see below), and the other members of Years of Lead (Julien, Karl, and Shep) have been in bands such as Action Sédition, Lingua Franca, and Mayday.

Outside of the band, members are involved in various initiatives such as the IWW (Industrial Workers of the World), affinity groups, unions, and other political projects around Montreal.

Union Thugs

Union Thugs

“We’ve got to realize; it’s the system; capitalism / That creates monsters, resentment / The poor, the rich; bosses, employees / As long as they exist / The class struggle isn’t over”

—”Ça ira pas en s’améliorant”, Union Thugs

Union Thugs (who say that they “are not musicians, but workers that play music”) are yet another band on this list from Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The band started in 2017 with one purpose: “To rock folk songs and folk rock songs in order to present a revival of classic popular and working class music with an original flavor.” That said, most of the band’s six members have done time in political punk bands such as Action Sédition and Mayday.

Simply put, Union Thugs play amped-up, accordion-fueled revolutionary folk-Oi!. Originally playing only covers of old-time protest songs and working class anthems from the likes of Woody Guthrie, Anne Feeney, and Pete Seeger, their most recent release, the three-song EP Coup de Grisou, is all original songs. It’s music that is, according to one review, “simply drenched in working-class power and anti-capitalist spirit.”

Says the band: “We wanted to bring back the old tradition of a syndicalist music act that would speak to laborers everywhere. We kinda grew tired of singing revolutionary punk songs to an already convinced revolutionary punk crowd. We wanted to bring what we had to say about the system and how it can be changed a step further. It’s Joe Hill who said: ‘A pamphlet, no matter how good, is never read more than once, but a song is learned by heart and repeated over and over.’ And we think that does make a lot of sense!”

They’re a band that is always on the front lines—a band that has played countless benefit shows for anti-fascist, anti-colonial, union, student movement, community organizing, and other righteous causes. They’re involved with the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), COBP (Committee to End Police Brutality), and RASH (Red and Anarchist Skinheads). They’re known for showing up at picket lines, saying: “We’ve taken up a habit of stopping by to visit striking workers, chatting with them, playing a few songs. It’s always a very rich moment of exchange, and we learn a lot.”

Spring Magazine summed up the band’s raison d’être quite nicely—and much better than I ever could: “It’s clear that Union Thugs see the need for cultural expression that represents the ideas of the proletarian, and not the ruling class. By creating art that is not just for, but by and relating to workers, we are able to actually share and communicate radical ideas while also creating platforms for organization.”

Autodifesa Proletaria

Autodifesa Proletaria

“Light the fuse of your passion / Your thought is an armed fist / Proletarian consciousness / Worker’s autonomy”

—”I Compagni Che Sparano Non Sono Criminali”, Autodifesa Proletaria

I first came across Autodifesa Proletaria, whose members hail from both Rome and Bologna, on December 15, 2023, when they released a demo entitled Assalto al Cielo (Assault the Sky). Says guitarist Gio: “The band was born from the urge to express our political point of view in the punk and Oi! scene, and to say that politics must be central in the punk scene and movement.”

The demo was dedicated to Walter Alasia, who was, as the band noted, a “communist militant, a fighter, a young son of the working class, a partisan.” A member of the Red Brigades, Walter was executed by police on December 15, 1976. One reviewer said of the demo: “This three-track EP deals a lot with the Red Brigades, both in the samples or the lyrics. Three tracks full of class hatred and a desire to strike back.” Others noted: “Assalto al Cielo expertly mixes hardcore punk and Oi! with some guitar solos with metal references. The powerful and hoarse singing conveys the anger with which the lyrics are imbued.”

The band’s latest release, 2024’s Autunno Caldo (Hot Autumn), confirms that this is a band steeped in and taking lessons from the comrades and revolutionary struggles of Italy’s autonomist and extra-parliamentary Left of the late 1970s/1980s—the “Anni di piombo” (Years of Lead), as they’ve become known. “To say it smells like gunpowder would be an understatement,” said one review. Says the band: “We are young and pissed off just like they were; we want to encourage people to become politically aware and overturn this rotten system.” And: “We put emphasis on that movement because it is a taboo in Italy to talk about that period, but we think it has been one of the best and most advanced examples of struggle in our country, and we think the analysis that those movements did about the developments of capitalism are still valid today.”

Musically, Autodifesa Proletaria are, as noted, a mix of hardcore, punk, and Oi!. The band is also quick to acknowledge its musical and political debt to the amazing Italian political punk outfit Erode. In fact, they cover an Erode song, “Orgoglio Proletario,” on Autunno Caldo. According to the band, Erode’s 2004 release Tempo Che Non Ritorna “is like the Bible and Capital in one work. Only, that album is better than both the Bible and Capital.”

The Fallout

The Fallout

“The time has come to claim our space / To make our mark and there won’t be no disgrace / Workers of the world there’ll be no mistake / When brothers and sisters are united today”

—”Another Way”, The Fallout

The Fallout (out of Toronto, Ontario, Canada) have been fighting the good fight since 2004, have seven releases to their name, and dole out, as they put it: “partisan and unapologetically political agitp(r)op punk rock, songs of unity, inclusion, solidarity and struggle.”

In essence, it’s catchy-as-heck, sing-along, three-chord, three-minute-long political punk rock. “The Fallout are a throwback to a time when protest punk was just as much about the tunes as it was about the message. These guys write catchy songs that are tailor made for you to shout along with.”

“Fist-pumping punk rock anthems railing against injustice, inequality, and the systemic oppression of the people. It’s music in the grand tradition of late ’70s/early ’80s political punk rock and the protest folk that inspired it.”

Singer/guitarist Byron says: “We typically play songs that have something to say, very quickly.” As they say about themselves in the song “In This Land,” they’re “just another punk rock band” that’s written “some songs, about protecting rights and correcting all the wrongs.”

One thing I love about the band is that a lot of their songs focus on or deal with issues from a Canadian perspective—like gun violence in Toronto, migrant workers in the Niagara region, and raising Canada’s minimum wage.

Says Byron: “I guess we think that local action everywhere amounts to global action. More than anything we sing about concerns we have and can hopefully do something about as Canadians. I see a tendency to focus on US crimes while thinking Canada doesn’t have its own shame to bear. It’s easier to point fingers than to look in the mirror. It seems more productive to rage about something we can affect with our votes and our numbers.”

As reviewers noted: “These guys are true believers in the idea that songs can change the world—or at least that songs have the power to inspire the people who will change the world.” Echoing this, Byron modestly points out: “Chant-along working-class hymns don’t create change. At most we’re bringing awareness to social issues. Real changes are being made by real people every day at union halls, the United Way, Canadian Blood Services, the Daily Bread Food Bank.”

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite reviews of the band: “The Fallout make you wanna get up, dance and then go and do nasty but well-deserved things to animal abusers/fascists/cops while happily humming one of their delightful ditties.”

Lee Reed

Lee Reed

“This is defiance / The slingshot rock that fought the Goliath / That full-blown riotous violence, / Smash the system and its tyrants / This is a fist up!”

—”Killshot”, Lee Reed

Lee Reed, from my hometown of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, is, in his own words, “Kanadian Hip-Hop’s oldest and grumpiest revolutionary rap loudmouth.” Lee’s been at it for over 25 years, first with his seven-piece band Warsawpack, which was signed to Propagandhi’s G7 Welcoming Committee record label, and now as a solo artist making far-left radical hip-hop—or, as he puts it, “old-timey boom bap hip-hop, with a batshit radical leftist lean.”

While a hip-hop artist, Lee is no stranger to punk rock. In fact, he’s played a few of the local punk shows I’ve put on over the years: “From my early days with Warsawpack, getting signed to G7 Welcoming Committee, and growing up in the Hamilton music community, I’ve always had a great musical and personal relationship with punks and the punk community. The ethos and DIY spirit of punk has had as much of an influence on my writing and performance as hip-hop has.” He’ll actually be playing with another band on this list, Union Thugs, here in Hamilton later this month!

Lee is also no stranger to activism and organizing, especially locally. “I’ve played and organized tons of fundraising events over the years, with particular attention paid to indigenous solidarity work, and housing and anti-gentrification work. Raising fists and funds for local causes/orgs/campaigns is a big part of what me and the squad do. We’re always happy to take the stage for comrades!”

Apart from his solo work, Lee is also part of the hip-hop collective Rymethink Collective, whose mission is: “To create and disseminate expressly revolutionary Hip-Hop: to soundtrack & support the frontline efforts of freedom fighters and social movements; to popularize anti-colonial, anti-capitalist, anti-fascist and anti-authoritarian politics in Hip-Hop; to wield words as weapons in the fight for social and environmental justice; and to fly a phat musical middle finger at all would-be masters, and the thugs & sycophants that serve them.”

Asked whether he considers himself a musician or an activist, or both, I think Lee captures perfectly what it’s all about, not just for him, but for the bands on this list and other like-minded artists:

The song itself can act in the way a pamphlet or zine might, spreading radical info and awareness about something. There is that.

But, I think, for me, the true crossover of music into real activism/organizing comes when artists give and use their music for the material benefit of a struggle. Use their performances and recordings to bolster the work of frontline resistance and sites of struggle.

Like, running fundraisers for organizations. Selling recordings where the proceeds go to radical organizations and campaigns. Donating music or songwriting for a campaign site or video. Using music as a spectacle for blockades and occupations. Using music and concerts to help refuel and invigorate organizers in the trenches. That sort of thing.

I think when you can use your music to support struggle, in meaningful and material ways—you are properly using your art as activism. And I’ve always worked hard to do that.

Interview With Union Thugs

… here’s a brand new interview with Union Thugs, taken from Industrial Worker

DPM: What should readers know about you and your band? Who are you? When/Where are you performing and what are the best ways to keep up with your recordings and performances?

Union Thugs: The band started out in 2017 following discussions around forming a union band with Montréal General Membership Branch members. Almost all six of us had experience with previous bands but it never been nothing close to a career—with the Union Thugs we always considered ourselves to be workers first and foremost, who just happen to play music on the side. So yeah, we pretty much all take part in the Montréal punk scene in one way or another, since the early 2000s.

But with the Union Thugs project, we wanted to bring back the old tradition of a syndicalist music act that would speak to laborers everywhere. We kinda grew tired of singing revolutionary punk songs to an already convinced revolutionary punk crowd. We wanted to bring what we had to say about the system and how it can be changed a step further. It’s Joe Hill who said: “A pamphlet, no matter how good, is never read more than once, but a song is learned by heart and repeated over and over.” And we think that does make a lot of sense!

So after almost seven years and close to 200 shows either in bars, squats, demos or picket lines all across Quebec and Ontario provinces, we’re actually about to embark on our first ever European tour that’s going to take place from the 17th of August until the 11th of September. Éric Sédition, our singer and main booker, has prepared 21 dates for us that will lead us from Germany to France with a few nights in the Czech Republic, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy and more importantly will connect us with the members and organizers of the German IWW (GLAMROC), the Free Workers’ Union (FAU) and the National Confederation of Labor (CNT) amongst other things!

For the longest time we’ve been touring around the provinces of Quebec and Ontario which (don’t get us wrong here!) we really enjoyed doing all those years. Just in the last few months this gave us the opportunity to play with bands such as Brigada Flores Magon, les Ramoneurs de Menhirs and the Dreadnoughts, but the time has come to visit the old countries and meet with workers from around the world!

The best way to stay up to date with our whereabouts would be to subscribe to our Facebook or Instagram accounts. In the U.S. all our music is available through PM Press and although there’s nothing like a real show, you can also catch us on all the major streaming  platforms and if you feel like supporting us, we also have a Patreon page; that way you can help us replace broken strings and put gas in the car!

DPM: Who are the people in your community making it happen? Who/What inspires you?

UT: Well the most inspiring thing for us is all these workers that resist and fight back against the abuse of the bosses. We’ve taken up a habit of stopping by to visit striking workers, chatting with them, playing a few songs. It’s always a very rich moment of exchange and we learn a lot.

Another thing that’s inspiring would be the movement for housing rights in Montréal right now. People are organizing against their landlords raising their rent and evicting them in a lot of traditionally working-class neighborhoods. People are fed up with being displaced and it shows.

One such fight was brilliantly led by the tenants of the Mont-Carmel retirement home who fought against an eviction notice to 200 tenants in 2023. There is also the resurgence in the fight for paid internships for students which is mostly led by women in care-centered programs.

And how can we forget about our very own Union, the Montréal branch of the IWW, which survived the pandemic and in addition to a few organizing campaigns always going on under the radar, just recently dumped a pick-up truck full of manure on the steps of Quebec’s Employers Council and is currently fighting a 20K wage theft campaign against a café owner. That list is obviously not everything that’s going on this year, that is just from the top of our heads!

Sebcom in Mâcon, France.
Sebcom in Mâcon, France.

DPM: A recent split release, including your contributions “J’avance” and a Woody Guthrie cover, “All You Fascists,” is a collaboration with Brooklyn-based Out of System (OOST). What inspired your contributions to the release and what kinds of solidarity and creative exchange are happening between Brooklyn and Montréal?

UT: Since the beginning of the band, we’ve mostly been doing covers of old union folk songs with a pinch of punk-rock or classic punk tunes that we folked on the way. This split recording was the first to feature an original song alongside a Woody Guthrie classic we’ve been performing since day one.

OOST and the Union Thugs had shared the stage a few times before this collaboration and Wawa (our now ex-drummer) and Derek (our current drummer) were friends with them before joining the band. OOST were also an obvious choice for us because of our shared views on politics and the duo is just great and really fun to be around!

Brooklyn and Montréal also have their share of similarities such as a strong working-class history in the heart of big city as well as rampant gentrification problems. It just really made sense for us to be featured on the same release as them.

Because of our cultural love for folk music and our political affiliation with the IWW, we have always felt very close with the American working class, but due to the particularly authoritarian nature of the U.S. border and some problem with the justice on our side, we haven’t succeeded yet in crossing the border, but we feel that this collaboration with OOST and PM Press, who helped us with the release, strengthen that link even if physically meeting is still pretty hard.

DPM: How are art and music related to worker struggle in your experience?

UT: Workers have a longstanding tradition of sharing their struggles and daily lives through art and music. For us, our shows are all about saying ‘’You are not alone to live like this! Others who are in your situation succeed in changing things and if you look around you just right now, you will realize that everyone wants to change things. You can do it too!’’

Music specifically is a great and accessible way to reach people and to open discussions about what actions can be taken to improve our living conditions. It can also be a means to support workers’ struggle.

For example, a picket line can be pretty boring if nothing is going on. They are usually held on roads where there is not much visibility; hours are long; it’s often really hot or really freezing. In that case, having a band visit can be really invigorating for the workers on those picket lines. In our experience, it really felt like people were happy to have this little change of pace in the day. It also felt like we were able to communicate our solidarity to them and that it was appreciated.

On the picket line of the Windsor Salt Mine Workers in Southern Ontario.
On the picket line of the Windsor Salt Mine Workers in Southern Ontario.

DPM: From your first release in 2018, Union Thugs’ songs have been consistently worker-centered and multilingual. In your wildest fantasy, how are your recordings being used?

UT: Being invited to play when workers are on strike and being able to go on a 21-date European tour is already beyond our wildest dream, but if we dare to dream even further, it would also be neat someday to play in demonstrations outside of Montréal and Quebec and (why not?) become the soundtrack of some revolutionary worker-led movement! But hey, if we can just happen to be in someone’s playlist at work and spark the idea of organizing their workplace, that would make the whole trip completely worth it!

DPM: How do you balance art, family, and work?

UT: That’s pretty chaotic! From the start, as any organizer will tell you, keeping six persons on a tight schedule for an extended period of time is a challenge in itself. It’s a shame that there are only 24 hours in a day because we are pretty hyperactive both as a band and as individuals!

We usually play at least 20 shows a year, sometimes over 30. Some of us are pretty active in the IWW, others run a label, an underground venue and some have other bands. At work we are all in fairly different industries. In the band we’ve got a building painter who does seasonal work in the cinema industry, a high school teacher, a day laborer, a harm reduction worker, a journalist and bartender and to add to that puzzle our singer,  Eric, just had his first child a few months back. But we always kind of make it work!

However, playing music, dreaming of a working class revolution, meeting with workers who are fighting the good fight and helping the labor movement to grow are things that we wouldn’t exchange for nothing in the world.  For the last 10 to 20 years, we all have been actively militant against the Capitalist system and, to be honest, we wouldn’t even know what else to do.

Solidarity,

Fellow workers Noel, Sansan & Stakh for the Union Thugs


Union Thugs / Out Of System Transfer – Le Combat Reste Le M​ê​me / The Struggle Stays The Same – Split 7″

… out now …

Out Of System Transfer: “New York City’s gonzo anti-folk punk rock radical leftist hootenanny, Out Of System Transfer combine elements of traditional folk protest music, New York anti-folk, and punk rock to create their high-energy, engaging, and thoughtful sound.”

For more info, check out the band’s website here!

Union Thugs: “Union Thugs are a Montreal-based six-piece that play a mixture of folk and oi in the spirit of working class and revolutionary anthems.”

Check out the band’s bandcamp page here!

¡Brigada Flores Magon – Still Holding The Line! – “Immortels” Available Now!

As previously noted, Rebel Time Records is one of the left-radical record labels / political projects coming together / working together to releases an ‘american’ version of the new Brigada Flores Magon album “Immortels.”

In an inspiring internationalist effort, we’ve got Machete Records (France) / Discos Machete (Mexico) / Rebel Time Records (Canada) / RASH GDL (Mexico) / PM Press (USA) / Dure Realite (Quebec) / RASH USA (USA) / SHARP Rio De Janeiro (Brazil) / Three Way Fight (USA) / Unite And Win (Brazil), all joining forces / combining resources to ensure that this album –  its music and its message – gets spread far and wide!

And, what an album it is!  Released 15 years after their last album  (Tout Pour Tous) and 2 years after the band got back together, “Immortels” is 10 tracks of catchy-as-heck, sing-a-long, up-in-arms, anti-capitalist, anti-fascist streetpunk.

Listening to these 10 songs, it’s clear that the band’s  anger and indignation is undiminished. Their militant / combative music and message is unchanged. Brigada remains impassioned, inflamed, undeterred and undaunted. They’re  in fighting form – worked-up , fired up and raring to go. This is a band that knows the struggle is indeed ongoing, endless and immortal.

Currently, Brigada Flores Magon consists of Mateo ( vocals ), Julien ( drums ), Goose ( ex-The Decline, guitar ), Arno Rudeboy ( ex-Bolchoi, guitar ) and Laurent ( ex-Ya Basta, bass )

In a recent statement, they  declared:

“2020 : Brigada is back on stage.
“The very rage which fueled us twenty years ago still burns more than ever.
This very anger leads us to come back now to shout our rebellion and our solidarity among those who are not heard.
It has been two decades, yet society keeps on sinking in the abyss of injustice dug by those in power.
We refuse to see our freedom and our rights disappear hopelessly day by day.”

 

Stay tuned for more information about the ‘american’ release. In the meantime, you can listen to the album digitally … Spotify, Bandcamp, etc.

… a solidarité ne meurt jamais, elle est notre arme la plus efficace / solidarity never dies, it is our most effective weapon / la solidaridad nunca muere, es nuestra arma más eficaz …

Brigada Flores Magon – Immortels

… a truly internationalist effort … labels / political projects from Mexico, Brazil, USA and Canada working together to release the latest from French anti-capitalist / anti-fascist streepunk stalwarts Brigada Flores Magon … stay tuned for more info … la solidarité ne meurt jamais, elle est notre arme la plus efficace / solidarity never dies, it is our most effective weapon / la solidaridad nunca muere, es nuestra arma más eficaz …

¡The People Are On The March And Must Have Songs To Sing!

¡ Build The Politico-Musical Front In The Metropole !

In one of the first initiatives of the newly formed International Anti-Capitalist Punk And Hardcore Syndicate, Rebel Time Records has joined forces with Dure Realite on their Youtube Page … we’ll be adding videos, releases, etc. over the next little while.

¡ Subscribe To The Dure Realite Youtube Page !

! Struggle Together Towards The Building Of The Politico-Musical Front On Youtube !

¡ Work Together Towards The Building Of The International Anti-Capitalist Punk And Hardcore Syndicate !

United Rebels Distro

Just a heads up that United Rebels distro now has all the newest Rebel Time Records releases in stock. Based out of Toronto, United Rebel is an online shop and worker run co-op specializing in punk rock.

Just arrived and ready to buy are releases from, for example, Brigada Roja, Asbestos, Coup De Force, Krav Boca, both the Amenaza Mexicana cassette compilations, etc.

United Rebels has a great selection of music, clothing, pins, flags, studs, spikes and more. Basically, it’s your one-stop mail-order punk rock shop!

We highly recommend buying  Rebel Time Records releases from United Rebels. They’ve got rock-bottom pricing, friendly and knowledgeable staff and timely and efficient service. And, hey, supporting your local D.I.Y. purveyors of punk rock is the only way to go!

The Fallout – Videos

… a few hastily assembled videos for various songs from The Fallout …

THE FALLOUT – WAR WITHOUT END

footage: “Pig Power (Newsreel #23)” / students take to the streets in New York and Berkeley to protest the Vietnam War

from: “What Is Past Is (Still) Prologue” / 202 / Rebel Time Records / Red Menace Records

Headline in the paper today
About fighting for democracy
Bombs tear human flesh apart
Watch the world turn away
What can I do? What can I say?
I don’t know
What you gonna do? What you gonna say?
You don’t know
Another imperialist action
War without end
Nationalist destruction
War without end
No international reaction
War without end
When it’s all for one
And none for all
Headache in the paper today
About fighting for liberty
Guns shoot civilians to death
Watch the world turn away
Protest seem to fall on dear ears
No one cares?
Apathy fulfilling my fears
No one cares?
Are they going to have the final word?
Am I ever going to be heard?

THE FALLOUT – ACTION TODAY

footage: “We Shall March Again” / A dynamic film of the October 1965 Berkeley Peace march, which builds to a showdown as the marchers meet a solid wall of Oakland police / 1965

from: “(Still) Turning Revolution Into Money” / 2020 / Rebel Time Records / Red Menace Records

When tomorrow comes
I’ll see the sun
Rise up for me
A brand new day

I’ll be ten feet tall
Nothing at all
Gets the best of me
Or my insecurities

Today
Action today
Like the sun, freedom comes, everyday

I’ll never lose
Temptations are refused
Won’t get pushed around
I’ll stand my ground

Today starts rapidly
Feel and force my way
Blind insanity
Tries and retards me

Chorus

Nothing holds a grip
Rigging starts to slip
Scores my brain
Stressed and strained

Never give up the chase
I’m not failing safe
The fight inside of me
Focuses my energy

THE FALLOUT – ANOTHER WAY

footage: “Oil Strike” / Newsreel / 1969: “In January, 1969 oil workers in Northern California struck. The local police and the Standard Oil goon squads attacked the strikers and their families, killing one and injuring others. The striking students from San Francisco State were asked to join the struggle. For the first time workers and students fight together against their common enemy.

from: “(Still) Turning Revolution Into Money” / 2020 / Rebel Time Records / Red Menace Records

Day by day
They try to break your body and take your mind
There’s another way
Stand in union, we’ll be just fine

They’ll try to take your life, try to take your cash
But history teaches every systems must crash
You work so hard to try and make a cent
But everything you try just doesn’t make a dent

You get just enough to keep your mind closed
To prevent the truth from being exposed
No one should vanish without a trace
So get off your ass and get out of this place

The time has come to claim our space
To make our mark and there won’t be no disgrace
Workers of the world there’ll be no mistake
When brothers and sisters are united today

Amenaza Mexicana Volume 2

The first  Rebel Time Records release of 2022!

Amenaza Mexicana Volume 2: Ruido Para Sobrevivir Al Capitalismo En El Tercer Mundo’ / ‘Noise To Survive Capitalism In The Third World’ 

A free / pwyc download on the Discos Machete and Rebel Time Records bandcamp pages … 12 tracks from 12 bands … brought to you by the International Anti-Capitalist Punk and Hardcore Syndicate 

Hard copies (cassettes) will be available shortly!

Here’s our very own Afterboltxebike with the song Gentrificación

… from the liner notes …

De La Escena Para La Escena
From The Scene To The Scene
De La Scene Pour La Scene

Ama La Musica, Odia El Fascismo

Amenaza Mexicana regresa con un segundo cassette compilatorio llamada “Ruido para sobrevivir al capitalismo en el tercer mundo” preparado y organizado por el Sindicato Internacional del Punk y Hardcore Anticapitalista.

En el Volumen 2 mezclamos bandas de distintos géneros del punk; punk rock melódico, hardcore, hardcore punk, gótico, raw punk y horror punk de distintas ciudades de todo México.

Rebel Time Records, Discos Machete, Sangre Caliente e Incendiario siguen trabajando de manera unida para apoyar a las bandas a difundir su música de manera virtual y física.

From the scene to the scene
From The Scene To The Scene
De La Scene Pour La Scene

Love music, hate fascism

Mexican Threat returns with a second compilation cassette called “Noise to survive capitalism in the third world” prepared and organized by the International Anti-Capitalist Punk and Hardcore Union.

In Volume 2 we mix bands from different genres of punk; melodic punk rock, hardcore, hardcore punk, goth, raw punk and horror punk from different cities throughout Mexico.

Rebel Time Records, Discos Machete, Sangre Caliente and Incendiario continue to work together to support bands to spread their music virtually and physically.

Urban Vietcong – Videos

It’s hard to believe that it’s been two years since Urban Vietcong commenced their Attacco Tour 2019 , a tour which saw them play Germany,  Mexico and Canada. To commemorate this, we’ve put together a few videos featuring footage of the band playing at Hamilton’s This Ain’t Hollywood on October 19, 2019.

URBAN VIETCONG – STORIE TRA BOTTIGLIE E CIMINIERE

from: Storie Tra Bottiglie E Ciminiere / 2018 / Out of Control, Fire and Flames, Rumagna Sgroza, Dure Realite, Rebel Time Records

footage: “Livorno: Unity Against Imperialism” / 1969

footage: Urban Vietcong / Hamilton / October 10, 2019 / Stronger Than Ever Video

A romperci la schiena in fabbrica e cantieri
Nipoti della resistenza coi calli tra le mani
Cresciuti tra un tornio e racconti partigiani
L’orgoglio operaio e’ un leone ferito
Frammentati senza sogni ne paradiso
La lotta di classe è in cassa integrazione
Ricatti quotidiani da un fottuto padrone

Storie vissute tra bottiglie e ciminiere
Tra treni perduti e mani dure come pietre
Storie vissute tra bottiglie e ciminiere
Tra campetti di cemento e schiene chine a bere

Le foto dei cortei sgualcite e scolorite
Ma siamo sempre qua ferite mai guarite
Guesto sistema ancora non ti ha incastrato
Galleggi tra sudore e un disco graffiato
Forza e precisione eran la nostra ragione
Il muro abbattuto a est il nostro sole
Restan nei pugni granelli di sabbia
Nel cuore scheggie di lacrime e rabbia

URBAN VIETCONG – FASTIDIO E AGGREGAZIONE

from: Storie Tra Bottiglie E Ciminiere / 2018 / Out of Control, Fire and Flames, Rumagna Sgroza, Dure Realite, Rebel Time Records

footage: “Don’t Bank On America” / 1970 / a documentary account of the 1970 riots in Isla Vista, California / a rally had been held at the University of California in Santa Barbara to respond to both national and local issues, including the firing of several radical faculty, police harassment of black student activists, and the Viet Nam War / police attacked students leaving the rally, which escalated into a large scale battle for the streets of Isla Vista, during which the Bank of America branch was torched

footage: Urban Vietcong / Hamilton / October 10, 2019 / Stronger Than Ever Video

Bastardi senza gloria
Non scriveremo mai la storia
Generazione fottuta
Tra precariato e cocaina
Tatuaggi e gelatina
Come uomini da copertina
Zero attitudine solo apparenza
Zero senso di appartenenza

Dove sono i ribelli di un tempo
Chi correva controvento
Spargeva sangue sul cemento

Che ogni canzone
Sia come una munizione
Pronta a colpire
A togliere dal torpore

Esci dal branco
Prima di finire al camposanto
Spargi semi di follia
Insegna ai bambini a odiare la polizia

Organizzati confrontati e rifletti
Scrivi sui muri ispirati ai combattenti
Col viso coperto esprimi la tua ragione
Non smettere mai di sognare la tua rivoluzione

Creare fastidio e aggregazione
Nelle menti quiete provocare confusione!

URBAN VIETCONG – CANTICLE DEI CONDANNATI

from: Storie Tra Bottiglie E Ciminiere / 2018 / Out of Control, Fire and Flames, Rumagna Sgroza, Dure Realite, Rebel Time Records

footage: Urban Vietcong / Hamilton / October 10, 2019 / Stronger Than Ever Video

footage: La Classe Operaia Va In Paradiso (Lulù The Tool) / Italy, 1972 / A conscientious factory worker gets his finger cut off by a machine. Although the physical handicap is not serious, the accident causes him to become more involved in political and revolutionary groups.

Quanti anni quella fabbrica ha divorato
Gioventù vola presto via
A lavoro sottopagato
Ogni giorno pura agonia
Gelida questa notte d’inverno
I demoni ti invitano all’inferno
Prendimi e portami via da qua
Finche il sole ci riabbraccerà
Han rubato il tuo futuro
Vorresti andar dritto contro il muro
Non farti ingabbiare resta ribelle
Esci dal fango punta alle stelle
È un cantico dei condannati
Sogni svaniti e cassa integrati
Ti ritrovi da solo in questa città
Bevi un altro whisky al pub
Domande rivolte alla stella polare, nessuna risposta giunge nel quartiere popolare
Dio di noi si è dimenticato, urla e bestemmia in catena l’operaio
Tra questi palazzi che cadono a pezzi
fucina di tossici e di reietti
È un giocar sempre con la sorte
Tra cicatrici e ossa rotte

URBAN VIETCONG – I DONNATTI DELLA TERRA

from: Storie Tra Bottiglie E Ciminiere / 2018 / Out of Control, Fire and Flames, Rumagna Sgroza, Dure Realite, Rebel Time Record

footage: August 26th 1968 rally by the Black Panther Party outside the Alameda County Courthouse in Oakland, in support of Huey P. Newton. Includes scenes of Black Panthers marching and singing: “Revolution has come / off the pigs / time to pick up the gun” and “Free Huey / Black is beautiful!”

footage: Urban Vietcong / Hamilton / October 10, 2019 / Stronger Than Ever Video

Bruciano ancora quegli occhi insanguinati
Come i fratelli dei ghetti americani
A soledad il cuore mio non smette di battere
Pulsa piu forte e continua a combattere
Catene stringono polsi neri
Black power e sempre fieri
Siamo i dannati della terra
Affronteremo questa sporca guerra

La polizia continua a sparare
Pulizia etnica e razziale
Ricorda le pantere nere
Dai quartieri contro il capitale
La disperazione diventi rivoluzione
Lotta di classe senza alcun colore
Come un incendio boschivo
Brucia tutto sul suo cammino

Gettatemi pure all’inferno
Vi prometto odio eterno
Che questa terra sia maledetta

URBAN VIETCONG – GLI INVISIBILI

from: Storie Tra Bottiglie E Ciminiere / 2018 / Out of Control, Fire and Flames, Rumagna Sgroza, Dure Realite, Rebel Time Record

footage: International Women’s Day demonstration outside the FCI Dublin prison in support of political prisoners and prisoners of war / 1988 / At the time FCI Dublin housed approximately ten women political prisoners.

footage: Urban Vietcong / Hamilton / October 10, 2019 / Stronger Than Ever Video

Un orologio è alquanto inutile
Si sfiora la follia dobbiam resistere
Si nasconde il sole non vediamo tramontare
sorrisi che non vediamo scorgere
Ad ogni giro di chiave un po’ si muore dentro
Avvolti da sbarre e grigio cemento
Nessuna carezza familiare ad ogni lamento

Stanotte di nuovo ho sognato l’orizzonte
Il sapore del salmastro e il sole sulla fronte
La pioggia sulla testa e l’odore dell’erba
I brividi sulla pelle e perdersi nelle stelle

Con la mia mente evado e fuggo da questo raggio
Arrivo in Irlanda vedo la dignità di quel 5 maggio
Ammiro Ahed che lotta per la Palestina
Gramsci che riempe i fogli di china
Apo Ocalan che indica la via
Abu Jamal mai a testa china

Come nanni siamo invisibili
la solidarietà ci rende invincibili
No non si può fermare il vento
Degli oppressori saremo tormento